The Filing Clerk
by Ladyminecrafter
Summary: A filing clerk is being mistreated by her boyfriend, will Genma step in?
1. Chapter 1- In the filing room

I woke up with the idea for this story in my head. I think it turned out ok. It is different from my usual romance style.

As always the Naruto characters and story are not mine. The Oc's and the story line are my imagination at work.

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><p>Genma wearily walked up to the filing clerk sitting at her desk and handed his mission report to her. She smiled up at him, "Thank you Shirunai-san. I'm glad you made it back safely again."<p>

He hesitated, did he know her? Had he flirted with her one night and forgotten about her? No, she was just smiling up at him, genuinely happy that he was safe. He looked at her, really looked at her for the first time since she had started working in the tower. She was an attractive woman, a few years younger than he was, maybe. She had chestnut brown hair that was pulled back from her face into a barrette, he wondered how long it was if she was to let it down. Her dark blue green eyes were almost turquoise as they smiled back at him. He judged her to be about six or so inches shorter than he was, but it was a guess since she was sitting, perched on her stool and he was standing on the other side of her desk. Her lips were neither thin nor full, making the perfect bow on her face. Her outfit declared her civilian status, she wore a deeply cut teal t-shirt that might have shown too much cleavage had it not been for the tank top underneath that was dotted with pink, teal, and purple flowers. His eye drifted to the promise of cleavage but he looked away quickly, he didn't want to seem like he was ogling her. He reflected that he might have flirted with her if they'd met in a bar, she was cute.

"Thank you. I'm glad to be back too." He turned to walk away, heading for his shower and his bed but turned back on a whim, taking the senbon pin he kept in his mouth out for a moment. "I'm sorry, I forgot your name?" As if he'd ever known it. The truth was that most of the jonin simply handed their mission reports in for filing and left, never even noticing the people who did the filing.

She looked back up from her log where she had been noting the receipt of his mission report. "Umeko. Umeko Nagamine."

"Well then thank you Nagamine-san." Genma replaced the senbon pin and turned to walk away wondering how many filing clerks he had simply overlooked since he'd become a jonin.

As he turned to walk away a man, slightly taller than he brushed past him as if he were simply in the way of this man's more important business. He paused at the door to look back and watch him. He was in the uniform of an Anbu but it looked uncomfortable on him, as if the man wasn't quite used to the weight of the added armor worked into the uniform and the mask that protected his identity from those around him.

He watched as the unknown man approached the same filing clerk that Genma himself had just been speaking with. She looked up at him smiling but her smile quickly changed to a look of dread. Clearly she knew who he was. Genma reflected that the filing clerks in this office probably knew a lot more than anyone realized.

The man leaned over the desk, resting his hand on her forearm. It might have been a gesture of affection except Genma could see the dents he was making in her arm from the pressure he was applying with his fingers and her face pale at whatever it was he was saying to her as he whispered in her ear. She nodded her head, apparently agreeing with whatever it was the man had to say and he released her arm and stood. As he did she looked up and caught Genma observing the interchange. She smiled nervously and gathered some files as if to bring them back to the filing room. The man caught her attention once more, saying something Genma couldn't hear and though she looked shaken she nodded and smiled. The smile wasn't genuine though, it was a nervous smile, as if she was caught in a trap and had to appease her captor in order to preserve her life.

Genma left the room feeling perturbed and wondered what it was he had just witnessed. He shrugged, Anbu guys could be touchy, and this guy had looked young besides, perhaps he was just one of the difficult ones. He wandered into the break room to grab a drink and say hi to anyone in there before he headed home for his much deserved shower and sleep.

Sliding the door to the break room open he was relieved to see that it was only Raido and Kotetsu in here just now. He poured himself a cup of tea and walked over to where they were sitting.

"Hey there." He greeted them.

"Welcome back Genma." Raido looked over at his tired friend.

"Hey there." Kotetsu nodded his head to the older jonin. "How was your mission?"

"Good. Quiet. Got the job done and came home, just a few scratches and bruises. That's the way I like them."

They both agreed with him.

"Did you hear that we have a new crop of Anbu graduates?" Raido asked.

"I hadn't but I think I just saw one giving a filing clerk a hard time. Why do they have to be so cocky when they're young?" Genma had no patience for disrespect. So what if the person filing your paperwork wasn't a jonin level ninja? You didn't have to know seventy-five ways to kill someone in order to file some paperwork.

Raido began filling him in on the gossip and news that had occurred during the two weeks he'd been gone but their conversation was interrupted by two Anbu guys walking into the room talking loudly. Genma recognized one of them to be the same man, well boy really, who had nearly flattened him in his hurry to get to the filing clerk. He was talking to his friend.

"Did you see her, Hiroshi? Smiling at that jonin as if he was the sweetest thing she'd ever seen?"

"To be honest, Tamotsu, you deck anyone of us who even look at her. So, no, I wasn't watching her."

"She was flirting with him!"

"She's a filing clerk, couldn't she just have been being nice?"

"She called him by name. That's more than being nice. I gave her a warning. She won't do it again."

"Seriously, if you don't trust her why do you stay with her? Umeko's a nice girl and she's never given you a reason to doubt her."

"You don't see it, do you? The way she looks at other guys and how she disrespects my authority? I stay with her because she's mine. And that's the way it will always be." He looked out the window with a superior look of chauvinism on his face. "That's the way girls like you. She wouldn't be dating an Anbu if she wanted a pushover who let her run wild and waited on her every word. Girls like a firm hand." He demonstrated this by slapping one of his hands with the other one.

Genma's fist tightened around his paper cup of tea threatening to crush it and he bit down on the senbon pin that usually hung casually from his mouth . Obviously they were discussing him and the exchange he had just had with the filing clerk. He hadn't gotten the impression that she'd been flirting and he did get the impression that this upstart moron had a much better perception of himself than he should. Raido and Kotetsu had been listening too and he could see that they were no happier than he was at the man's disrespectful tone. Not to mention their flaunting of basic Anbu rules and ettiquette in a public room.

He rose, handing his tea cup to Raido and walked across the room to them. His walk indicated that he was headed for the door but at the last moment he turned, grabbing the punk by his arm, which he quickly twisted around behind the man as he shoved him up against the wall, pointing his senbon pin directly at the mans throat. The kids friend jumped to his aid but instead found himself pinned by Raido. Kotetsu leaned against the wall next to him.

"I wouldn't bother. Even though you're both Anbu, you're new Anbu and the men who have you pinned are both trained assassins. Just hear him out, Tamotsu." Kotetsu knew that Genma had very little tolerance for disrespect and the fact that this man had not only disrespected some very basic Anbu rules and a woman in the same breath meant he was in for a treat.

Genma leaned into the young mans face. "Who was your Anbu Sensei? Because I think maybe I need to have a word with him. Or perhaps I should just go straight to Ibiki? He might be able to make you understand why you wear a mask and don't tell people your name."

The younger man paled.

Genma rolled his senbon pin, letting it graze the skin on his neck and continued. "Perhaps you need a reminder of just why the Anbu identities are concealed. Did you think you were cool waltzing in here and calling each other by name? Did you think no one would notice? Perhaps Lady Tsunade would like to know how her newest Anbu members respect their new positions?"

"Hey. It was a mistake. I'll be more careful next time. I never even saw you guys sitting there. And this is headquarters, right? Where better to make a mistake?" He was grasping for any way out.

Genma could tell that he didn't like being at the disadvantage and he pressed him harder against the wall. "There isn't room for mistakes for an Anbu, no second chances. Consider yourself lucky that only the three of us heard you and we're willing to look away, THIS TIME!"

Tamotsu was looking visibly shaken by now but Genma wasn't done.

"I also heard what you said about that sweet filing girl. I take it she's your girlfriend?"

Tamotsu nodded that Genma had guessed correctly.

"While you're searching your heart and finding it in you to respect your job you should probably reconsider your opinion about women as well. That kind of attitude won't get you very far if it gets out. There aren't too many guys, or girls for that matter, around here that will stand by and watch you be an asshole."

Genma released the man, looking him up and down. "And probably most of them could take you out before you even knew they were in the room."

Raido released Tamotsu's friend at the same time. He and Kotetsu following Genma out the door of the break room.

Genma sighed and looked at Raido. "Is it a sign that I'm getting old, Raido, that I just can't stand by and watch stuff like that? A few years ago I might have mentioned to him that keeping his mouth shut would be a healthier choice, and even longer ago I would have just laughed at him."

"Nah. He was a jerk."

"Well, I'll see you. I have a date with my shower and my bed and I don't want to be late."


	2. Chapter 2- At the bar

Genma walked into Lady Tsunade's office. He had heard her since he'd reached the top of the stairs outside the tower. She must be in a mood today he thought. He observed the dynamics of the room as he entered. Naruto was standing in front of her desk demanding a mission that was, in his opinion, worthy of his skill. Genma chuckled to himself, that boy was either going be Hokage someday or homeless and Genma wasn't betting on either one. He watched Naruto leave with a disappointed look on his face, he had obviously not gotten what he had wanted this time.

Tsunade looked up and noticed Genma. "Oh Hi Genma. Shizune's busy at the hospital this morning, could you take this paperwork to filing and drop it off for me?"

"Sure thing, Hokage-sama."

"Well, aren't you in a good mood this morning?" She smiled at him.

"It helps to be clean and well rested, Ma'am. But thank you." Genma enjoyed his job, yeah sure he complained about some of the tasks but overall he thought, his job was a good one and it suited him. He grabbed the pile of paperwork and headed for the filing room, which was downstairs. He wondered if he'd run into Umeko again. She had been sweet. In all the years he had been filing paperwork he didn't remember a clerk once addressing him by name or saying anything at all to him.

When he entered the filing room he saw her immediately, it was hard to miss her. She was sitting alone at her desk working on a stack of papers but when she looked up her eyes were swollen as if she had been crying. He went over to her desk to drop the paperwork with her. "Good morning Nagamine-san. How are you?"

She looked up at him with a frightened look in her eyes. "I'm good. How are you?" She looked behind him to see who else might be in the room.

Genma also looked behind him but the room was empty except for the three filing clerks and himself. When he looked back at her she looked relieved.

"I have some paperwork from the Hokage that needs filing." He held the stack of papers out for her. His breath caught when she reached out to take them. Her arm from her elbow up to where it disappeared into her sleeve was covered in fingertip sized bruises, as if someone had held it very tightly in many places for an extended time.

She noticed him looking at it and looked away. "I'll get these taken care of for you then." And returned to her paperwork.

Genma wondered where the friendly, lively young woman from yesterday had gone. He leaned across the desk, "Hey, you were so happy yesterday. What happened? Why so glum today?"

She looked nervous, "No reason, just a lot of work to do today." She jumped as the door slid open behind him.

Genma straightened, "I'm sorry. I liked your smile yesterday. It really brightened my day." And he turned to leave but was face to face with a man who struck him as familiar but he couldn't quite place. He walked around him and was almost through the door when he heard him say, "Umeko, isn't it break time? Come on."

"Ok Tamotsu. But I can't be gone for long, I have a lot of work to do."

Genma lingered in the hallway to see if she left with him. Sure enough the two of them walked out the door and headed outside. He momentarily told himself he shouldn't get involved but then dismissed it. It was apparently his fault that she was in trouble so in a manner of speaking it was actually his business. He followed them, at a distance.

As he observed the couple he wondered how Tsunade would feel that he was using his assassin's skill to eavesdrop on a couple of kids from the village. He shrugged, it didn't really matter. They walked out into the sunlight, stopped at a vending machine for some drinks and then wandered into an alley where he had the pleasure of watching the young man practically force a kiss on her. His fists balled up at his sides.

He maneuvered himself closer so he could hear what was being said.

"I saw you with that guy again."

"Tamotsu, he was just there dropping off paperwork for the Hokage. I am a filing clerk after all."

"Well just be sure I don't catch you smiling at him again. You're mine and I don't like my girl looking at other guys."

"Yes Tamotsu. I understand." She said this as if she was repeating something she had been forced to commit to memory. "I need to get back to work now."

"Fine. But remember, we're all going out tonight. Make sure you're cleaned up and looking nice for me. I don't want to be embarrassed by you again. Meet me at the bar at seven."

"You're not going to come get me?"

"Babe, I'd have to walk all the way across town to your place and then back to the bar. You know how tired I am at the end of the day. Don't worry. You'll be coming home with me anyway."

"Ok." The resignation in her voice was apparent.

Genma melted into the crowd as they walked out of the alley they had been in. He watched Tamotsu walk off towards the village and Umeko head back into the tower. It bothered him that she was being treated like that but he wasn't sure what he could do about it.

He followed her at a distance, wondering if he should even get involved. The thought was still plaguing him as he returned to the Hokage's office.

Lady Tsunade looked up as he entered. "Well it took you long enough. Did you take the filing clerk out for a date or something?"

Genma looked at her. Did he have a reputation or what? "Nah. I just saw something I didn't like and did a little reconnaissance on it, that's all."

"Oh really? What was it?"

Genma rolled the senbon pin in his mouth weighing his decision to tell her what he had witnessed yesterday and today. "Nothing important, if it gets out of hand I'll let you know."

He watched Tsunade narrow her eyes at him, he knew she trusted him but would she let it go?

"Ok. Whatever you think is best."

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><p>Genma was walking home with Raido, the rest of the day had passed quietly and he had spent a lot of it thinking about Tamotsu and his arrogance, the way he flaunted his authority and the way he treated Umeko. He talked to Raido about it.<p>

"So I saw our Anbu upstart friend at his finest today."

"You did, huh?"

Genma related what he had seen outside the tower and the bruises he had observed on her arms. "He essentially ordered her to show up at the bar tonight. I thought maybe I'd do a little observing. Want to join me?"

"You know it."

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><p>Raido and Genma entered the bar together. Genma surveyed the bar locating Tamotsu easily as he was part of a large group of men and women gathered in a back corner of the bar. They were drinking and laughing loudly. He chose seats at the bar that allowed them to observe without getting any closer and ordered drinks for them. Then they sat back and watched the action. He realized in scanning the group that Umeko wasn't there, he checked the clock, five after seven. This should be interesting he thought and he wondered if Tamotsu would be so disrespectful in a large group.<p>

Ten minutes later he saw her hurry past him to the group and approach Tamotsu who gave her a dark look and pulled her aside. "Hey that's her." He said to Raido. He wished for just a moment that he had thought to bring Kakashi and his lipreading sharingan with him tonight. She looked scared but she held her own clearly explaining why she was late.

Genma looked at her, if he hadn't known to watch for her he might easily have missed her. Her hair was down from it's workday barrette and it hung down to her waist in soft waves, the rich chestnut color caught the light in the bar and reflected it, giving the impression that it was almost red in the dimly lit bar. She was wearing a well fitting pair of jeans that flared slightly at the hem and a deep purple halter top that perfectly accented her body. She was curvy but not overly so. She looked taller than he had thought she was but then he realized she was wearing red sandals that had very high heels on them.

She looked up into Tamotsu's face, the look on her face wavered between fear and sincerity. Tamotsu looked at her, clearly annoyed with her, then he wrapped his arm around her pulling her to him. His hand slid down onto her bottom and he leaned in and kissed her, it was the same kind of kiss he had given her earlier. It didn't say I love you but rather I own you. It made Genma want to punch him into the next decade.

Raido had been observing the interchange as well. "Wow. What a way to treat your girlfriend, huh?"

Genma grunted, "Yeah."

He watched as Umeko went to sit down and Tamotsu pushed her over and sat instead, letting her either sit on his lap or lean up against the wall. She chose the wall.

For the most part Tamotsu ignored her spending most of his time laughing with the other guys in the group. Occasionally he would try to pull her down into his lap or reach out to let his hand rest on her in some way. At one point he turned to her and pointed at all the empty glasses on the table. She had sighed and gathered as many of them as she could carry. As she left, heading towards the bar he reached out and smacked her bottom so hard that she almost toppled over. He laughed at her as she stumbled and regained her balance.

At this Genma growled and went to get up but Raido pulled him back by the arm. "You'll only make it worse. If you are going to help her then you need to start with getting her away from him completely."

Genma knew he was right so he sat back down. He looked at Raido "I don't understand it. She's gorgeous. Why is she with that neanderthal?"

"Because he loves me."

Genma turned his head, she was standing next to him, having deposited the empty glasses on the table she was ordering refills for everyone.

"That's not love Umeko."

"Oh. So now we're on a first name basis then, **Genma**?" She had emphasized his name when she said it.

"We could be." He said, smiling and rolling the senbon pin in his mouth. "You deserve better than him, you know?"

"Do I?" She collected the refills she had ordered and returned to the group that included Tamotsu.

Genma looked at Raido in confusion.

Raido shrugged "Maybe she's not so nice when you get to know her?"


	3. Chapter 3- In the end

Genma rolled his senbon pin in his mouth and looked up at the sky. He couldn't get her out of his mind. It wasn't that he was attracted to her, although she was very pretty, it was that he couldn't stand the way Tamotsu treated her. He had very high standards when it came to how you treated a woman. He'd seen them again this morning. They'd been in the same restaurant he'd gone to for breakfast. He remembered the conversation they'd had.

"I'll have the special. I'm so hungry this morning!" She'd said.

But Tamotsu had interrupted her order, "You've been putting a little weight on babe. She'll have the dieters special, thanks."

"Tamotsu! You know I don't like all that fruit and crap. I wanted eggs."

"Well, fine but you know what happens when you get fat, right?"

"Fine. The dieters special then."

Genma hadn't been able to take anymore. He was sitting in the booth right behind theirs and he turned around. "You know Tamotsu, you're an idiot. You have a gorgeous girl on your arm and all you can do is insult her and be mean. I think it's time for someone to grow up." Then he had winked at her and left.

He considered his actions, he probably shouldn't have said anything at all. After the conversation he'd had with her last night he'd left the bar, exasperated with the situation. He had decided that if she found the way Tamotsu treated her to be acceptable then it wasn't his business to intervene. He should have kept his mouth shut.

He was laying in the grass by the river, and he decided to wander in the nearby forest a bit. He hopped up to the trees because the view was always better from above. He wasn't in a hurry, he wanted to enjoy the view.

He came to stop and looked out over the forest. He loved the forest, there was nothing like it. The trees created a canopy that allowed the sun to dapple through and leave shadows all over the forest floor. The wind would rustle through the branches and make it sound as if they were talking to each other. And sometimes, if the wind blew hard enough it would rub the trees together and make it sound as if they were crying for the wind to stop hurting them. He could almost hear it now. Genma came out of his reverie and realized that the wind wasn't blowing hard enough and that he was actually hearing someone cry.

He hopped down to the forest floor and followed the sound of sobbing. Coming into a clearing he found Umeko, huddled into a ball, her knees pulled up to her chest and her head buried in them. Her shoulders were shaking with the sobs that were escaping her.

"Hey, kitten. Why are you crying?" He walked over and crouched next to her.

She looked up at him. Her eyes were puffy and red, mascara had run down her face in great black streaks that made her resemble a melting panda. And, he noticed, she had a rather large and angry red hand print on her face.

"Did he do that?" The anger in Genma's voice was barely contained.

She nodded.

"Was it my fault?"

"No..maybe. But it doesn't matter."

"It does. You didn't do anything wrong and you don't deserve to be hit, even if you did." Genma's anger was working up now. "Want to tell me what happened?"

"Not really."

"I won't get angry."

"It's my fault anyway."

"Yeah. What did you do? Assassinate his mother? Because hitting a girl is never ok." Genma rolled the senbon pin in his mouth as he thought about this rather sweeping statement and then he pulled his senbon pin out to hold in one hand. "Unless that girl happens to be a ninja assassin with skill equal to your own and she is set on killing you before you kill her." He winked and popped the senbon back into his mouth.

She giggled, "Have you done that then?"

Genma smiled, "Plausible deniability." At least she'd settled down a bit. He really wanted to bring her to Lady Tsunade and get Tamotsu fired but he knew he needed to move slowly. "So you aren't a trained Anbu level assassin masquerading as a filing clerk are you?"

She shook her head. "No. I sucked at being a ninja, didn't even make genin. My father was so disappointed in me. But he got used to it. He was happy that I was working in the filing office, helping the village."

"Was?"

"He died a few years ago."

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's ok. I'm used to it."

"So back to the current situation. Did Tamotsu hit you? Is that his handprint on your face?"

"If I said no, would you believe me?"

"Probably not. What happened?"

"After you spoke to him and left he was really mad at me. He's sure that I've been flirting with you and he is so jealous. We ate and then left. As we were walking around he started getting angrier and angrier. I tried to reassure him but he wouldn't listen. Finally I got mad too. And I told him that if he wasn't going to trust me then I was going to break up with him."

"Good for you!"

"Then he slapped me and said I was a waste of his time anyway." At this she dropped her head back onto her knees and started crying again.

Genma touched her arm. "Hey. It's ok. You're better off without him anyway."

"Am I?" She was almost yelling at him. "I'm almost thirty! All the nice guys have been snatched up and I'm going to be alone. He's a little younger than me but it didn't bother me. I was happy to be with someone that told me he cared and wanted to spend time with me. Now I'm alone again." She continued to cry into her knees.

"Maybe I should have left you alone, then?"

"No. I know he wasn't being nice to me. Or respectful. It's just that it was easy to fool myself and think it was better then being alone."

"Is being alone that terrible?" Genma wondered if he had just come to accept being alone. He hadn't had a serious relationship in years. It was hard to find someone that could accept the limitations of life with a ninja.

"All my friends are married and starting families. I just get to stand by and watch."

Ah. He was getting the picture now.

"And if I want to go out for a drink I have to do it alone or on mom's night out. If I go alone I usually get hit on by the drunkest guys there."

Genma cringed, he hoped he'd never been one of them.

"And then, I have to go home alone, to an empty, cold bed. Do you have any idea how hard that is, night after night?"

"Actually I do. I can't say that the drunk guys have hit on me all that much but my bed is also cold and empty much of the time."

She looked at him. "But you have such a reputation! You could have any girl in Konoha!"

This was news to Genma! "Really? Any girl? How about you?" He smiled at her mischievously.

"Well almost any girl." She smiled back with a glint in her eye.

"Aww. Why not you?" His teasing tone drew another smile from her.

"Because I don't date old men!"

Genma stared at her, his senbon pin drooping from his mouth. Was he old?

"How old do you think I am?"

"I don't know, really. But I think you must be almost ten years older than me. You've been a ninja forever!"

"Really? I'm thirty-two. And I made chunin at thirteen, so I've been a ninja for just under twenty years. Hardly forever. The third Hokage, now he'd been a ninja forever."

Umeko giggled. "You're only thirty-two? Wow. I thought you were much older than that. I'm twenty-eight."

"See, that's hardly thirty. You have ages before you have to worry about being an old maid."

"Mmmm. I guess."

"So let's go see the Hokage. Because I think she'd be very interested in how one of her Anbu treats women."

"I don't want to cause any trouble."

Genma took her hand in his. "Umeko, Tamotsu is the one who has caused the trouble. We can't have someone like that serving in Anbu. Come on, please?"

She got up and they made their way to the Hokage's office. When they arrived it was quiet and he knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

He pulled her along and said, "Come on."

Lady Tsunade looked up in surprise. Genma was pulling a frightened looking young woman into her office. "Genma, I cannot, in good conscience, order anyone to go out on a date with you simply because you can't find a date on your own."

Genma sighed, "What the hell do I have to do to fix my reputation here?!"

Tsunade laughed, "What can I do for you then?"

Genma explained what he had observed that week in Tamotsu's behavior, including what he had seen in the breakroom.

Tsunade looked at Umeko. "Is this true? Is that his handprint on your face?" The rage on her face made Umeko shudder a little.

"Yes Ma'am. It's all true. He was never nice to me. Today is the first time he ever hit me though."

"Yeah, well once they've done it once it'll happen again. There is never a good excuse to hit a girl."

"Unless she's an assassin, right?" Umeko laughed.

Tsunade looked up at Genma, "Just what have you been telling her?" But the laughter in her eyes was apparent. "GUARDS!" she hollered for the Anbu guards that were always outside her door and ordered them to send someone out to find Tamotsu and bring him in to her. "She doesn't need to be here though. I can handle this myself. Genma, why don't you walk her home?"

"Yes Ma'am. Come on Umeko." He offered her his arm.

"What will happen to him?" She asked as they walked through town.

"I don't know. But I do know that she's fair." He looked down at her, she really was quite pretty. "I was wondering if you wanted some ramen on the way home? You know, not a date or anything. Just a couple of friends hanging out?"

"That'd be fun!"


End file.
